Three undertrial prisoners from Jacobabad were released on allegedly fake orders. ILLUSTRATION: AMNA IQBAL

SUKKUR:

Two clerks of the Sukkur jail were arrested on Friday night as the investigations into the fake release orders of three Jacobabad prisoners continue.

After the downpour in September this year, 150 prisoners were shifted from District Jail, Jacobabad, to Central Jail-I, Sukkur, given the vulnerable state of the jail building. Among these prisoners were three undertrial prisoners on murder charges, Leemo Rind, Akram Keehar and Noor Muhammad Khoso, who were released over the next few weeks on allegedly fake release orders.

On November 19, the police had arrested a clerk, Abdul Qayyum Golo, and a peon, Naseer Dasti, of the district and sessions court, Jacobabad, suspecting that they were involved in the scam. A senior clerk of Sukkur Central Jail-I, Irfan Ali Pirzada, was also suspended.

During interrogation, the arrested clerk and peon said that they received Rs200,000 for each fake release order. They also revealed the names of two jail workers, Amanullah Bhatti and Mumtaz Mahar, who helped them.

Sukkur jail superintendent Shahid Hussain Chijjan confirmed the arrest of two of his clerks. He said that it is a matter of our prestige so we are fully cooperating with the investigating officer. Both Bhatti and Mahar have been handed over to the police for further investigations, he said.